fandel Rickenbacker Copy

: : I recenty acquired a guitar the is a dead ringer for a rickenbacker model 330. The head stock say Fandel and I cannot find anything on Fandel guitars. I am curious about any details - country of origin, years made, wood type, pickups type, value, anything. The tail piece say made in Japan. other than the tail piece and head stock there are no markings on the guitar; no serial number... nothing. Thank you for any help! PL&P!

: You can find a real live M. Harris on this site's 2000 Database under Picks By The Pound. Harris-Fandel Corp. have been in the music business in Boston MA. since 1967.

: I think your Ricky copy has Fandel inked onto the white plastic truss rod cover on the headstock. That would be the only form of ID. You could email the company now. I bet it was made for Fandel by the same company that builds Tokai. You could ask or request that info as well. 330 copies are made of good laminated maple, same as a real Ric or an ES-335. Pickups are single coil, generic. They have an excellent sound, even without the additional blender pot offered by Rickenbacker. Other differences are that the Ric has a double truss rod and walnut in the neck, a much heavier tailpiece and of course the inimitable Rickenbacker multi step, super thin acrylic lacquer finish.

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Thanks Daisy Girl! I am going to try to track down that company. I appreciate the info very much! Am definitly going to attempt to restore it now! NEed a bit of help - tail piece is missing a piece and the bridge and nut are missing. A side note - it does hav ehte blender knob (or what I would assume is a blender knob - a small knob under and between the main volume and tone knobs).
Thanks again! PL&L

:
: : Thanks Daisy Girl! I am going to try to track down that company. I appreciate the info very much! Am definitly going to attempt to restore it now! NEed a bit of help - tail piece is missing a piece and the bridge and nut are missing. A side note - it does hav ehte blender knob (or what I would assume is a blender knob - a small knob under and between the main volume and tone knobs).
: : Thanks again! PL&L

:
: You have some options for replacement parts, a little costly, but you'll be in better shape than some people who can't get parts at all for their rarities.

: When you remove the strings from a 330 or a clone, the whole bridge just literally falls off. That includes the palm cover, which most players don't like anyway. But, do you have the chrome, rectangular base plate still mounted to body? Might as well get a real Ricky 6 string bridge, and set it on top. Alternative is Tokai, but I don't know the model #. And for the tailpiece, see how nice they are on Rickenbacker.com website? They have the big "R". That will fit and looks best, otherwise Tokai again, but they're really thin and wiry. A nice touch would be the genuine Ric truss rod cover to finsih it off, but not necessary.

: The nut is the toughest to get. Maybe Ric again, or cut from a suitable blank. It's rather wide across the fretboard, thin in depth and tall, and flat radiused. Different than most.

: So, I don't know know where your Tokai dealers are, but you can find Ric dealers through their website, get tech support, etc. Ric won't sell direct, you must find a dealer for parts, if you choose. Good luck.